Don Foreman wrote:

I make boxes by welding up pieces of sheetmetal, because I don't have
a brake to bend them. Even if I did, with welding I don't have to
worry about bending allowances to get the dimensions right.


WOW, I'd sure like to look over your shoulder while you did this! I
was trying to TIG weld some gussets into a box I made of .060" 3003
last night. I almost destroyed the box. I should have set up some
copper bars to keep the aluminum from melting. My big problem was the
gussets would melt into a puddle before I got any melting of the box
material, even though they were the same thickness. I'm pretty sure
they were the same alloy, but something else could have gotten in the
scrap bin.

After painting it will look OK until somebody opens the box, then it
looks like hell!

I've got steel, SS and even copper down just PAT, but aluminum still
drives me crazy. I don't know why. (I have a Lincoln Square-Wave TIG
300, supposed to be a good machine.)

Jon